Bamako

Abderrahmane Sissako / ML, US, FR, 2006

To mark the premiere of Timbuktu, an urgently topical film about the occupation of northern Mali by jihadists, EYE is screening three feature films previously directed by the Mauretanian-French director Abderrahmane Sissako. Bamako, a dramatized indictment of the World Bank and IMF, won lead actress Aïssa Maïga a César.

Sissako filmed a fictitious trial in the courtyard of a communal house in the Malinese capital Bamako. The defendants in this trial are representatives of the IMF and the World Bank, who are called to account for the ruthless exploitation of the African continent.

The director asked real lawyers, judges and witnesses to play themselves in this improvised court case, which also features a Malinese singer (played by the French actress Aïssa Maïga) and her husband Chaka. Chaka is unemployed, but his view of the people”s court is diametrically opposed to that of the fiery singer Melé. The other people in the house go about their daily business; some get involved, others are totally unconcerned.

Sissako received a lot of praise for his impressive mingling of fact and fiction; lead actress Aïssa Maïga received a César, the French equivalent of the Oscar.